Guadalupe Community Center

Guadalupe Community Center in Canoga Park helped Miguel Villalobos turn his life around. Before discovering the center more than two years ago, Miguel said he was fighting a lot, bullying younger kids, setting off car alarms and getting bad grades in math and English. Since then he has been able to focus his energies in a positive direction. "I met people in high school who go to the center, and they help me with my homework," said Miguel, 13, of Canoga Park.

Operators of a social services program in Canoga Park dedicated a statue Monday in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Perhaps Catholic Charities, which operates the 60-year-old Guadalupe Community Center, will erect a statue saluting Mary Logan Orcutt next. Orcutt was the wife of a pioneering San Fernando Valley rancher and the person who, in 1947, bought two acres of peach orchard land and drew up plans for a family services center to help the ranch's mostly Mexican-immigrant workers.

Operators of a social services program in Canoga Park dedicated a statue Monday in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Perhaps Catholic Charities, which operates the 60-year-old Guadalupe Community Center, will erect a statue saluting Mary Logan Orcutt next. Orcutt was the wife of a pioneering San Fernando Valley rancher and the person who, in 1947, bought two acres of peach orchard land and drew up plans for a family services center to help the ranch's mostly Mexican-immigrant workers.

Sergio and Margarita Mercado and their daughters fled their burning apartment seven years ago with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Struggling financially, the family received emergency food and clothing from the Guadalupe Community Center in Canoga Park. The center is a past recipient of support from the Holiday Campaign of the Los Angeles Times Family Fund.

Sergio and Margarita Mercado and their daughters fled their burning apartment seven years ago with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Struggling financially, the family received emergency food and clothing from the Guadalupe Community Center in Canoga Park. The center is a past recipient of support from the Holiday Campaign of the Los Angeles Times Family Fund.

Guadalupe Community Center, which has provided help and activities for the area's poor for 50 years, has begun a $1-million renovation that will allow it to expand its services. The center, situated amid modest apartment buildings on Hart Street, is run by Catholic Charities, which operates 83 nonprofit centers in Southern California.

Cinco de Mayo may only be a minor holiday in Mexico, but in the Latino community in the United States, it's a day of celebration and pride. "They celebrate it more here," said Reyna Vela, who came to the San Fernando Valley from Nayarit, Mexico, three years ago. Vela was among the hundreds who gathered at the Guadalupe Community Center in Canoga Park for a day of folklorico dance, mariachi music, food, games and pinatas. The mood at the party on Sunday was definitely festive.

Administrators of the Guadalupe Community Center in Canoga Park are attempting to revive the old local tradition of holding an annual fiesta in celebration of Mexican Independence Day. The fiesta is scheduled for Sept. 11 at 6 p.m. at the center at 21600 Hart St. Admission is $15 for adults and $7.50 for children. Tickets went on sale at the center this week.

Needy families in the Los Angeles Police Department's West Valley area have been invited to a free meal and some fun on Thanksgiving Day. The Thanksgiving dinner, to be held at the Guadalupe Community Center at 21600 Hart St. in Canoga Park, will begin about 11 a.m. and continue until early afternoon, organizers said.

About 3,000 volunteers are expected to participate today in Mitzvah Day '97, a time set aside for community service in the San Fernando, Santa Clarita, Antelope, Conejo and Simi valleys. The daylong event, sponsored by the Jewish Federation/Valley Alliance, a Jewish community service organization based in West Hills, will involve 37 synagogues and organizations from throughout the valleys performing 100 service projects.

Guadalupe Community Center, which has provided help and activities for the area's poor for 50 years, has begun a $1-million renovation that will allow it to expand its services. The center, situated amid modest apartment buildings on Hart Street, is run by Catholic Charities, which operates 83 nonprofit centers in Southern California.

Guadalupe Community Center in Canoga Park helped Miguel Villalobos turn his life around. Before discovering the center more than two years ago, Miguel said he was fighting a lot, bullying younger kids, setting off car alarms and getting bad grades in math and English. Since then he has been able to focus his energies in a positive direction. "I met people in high school who go to the center, and they help me with my homework," said Miguel, 13, of Canoga Park.

Cinco de Mayo may only be a minor holiday in Mexico, but in the Latino community in the United States, it's a day of celebration and pride. "They celebrate it more here," said Reyna Vela, who came to the San Fernando Valley from Nayarit, Mexico, three years ago. Vela was among the hundreds who gathered at the Guadalupe Community Center in Canoga Park for a day of folklorico dance, mariachi music, food, games and pinatas. The mood at the party on Sunday was definitely festive.

In local Cinco de Mayo celebrations Sunday, the colors of pinatas were just as vibrant and strains of mariachi just as sweet whether they took place at the neon-bedecked Universal CityWalk or a humble community center tucked away on a neighborhood block.

Santa couldn't be late for a very important date. Maybe that's why St. Nick chose a police escort over his usual reindeer to attend the Guadalupe Community Center's annual Christmas party for needy children Thursday. As Santa emerged from the black-and-white, a ripple of excitement surged through the crowd of children lined up to meet him. Parents held chunky toddlers above their heads so they could see the portly, red-suited visitor.